Chapter 140: The Emotionally Rich Den Den Mushi
The room fell into stunned silence.
No Marine had ever said something like that so openly.
Power and strength allowed one to do whatever they wanted.
Everyone present knew there was truth in it. The world worked that way more often than people wished to admit. But the Marines wore justice on their backs. No matter how ugly reality became, some truths were not meant to be spoken aloud.
Barlow, as the person directly targeted, was left speechless.
What could he do?
His superior was stronger than him.
His superior outranked him.
And worse, his superior was completely unreasonable.
For the first time, Barlow felt genuine despair.
"Wait…"
His voice came out strained.
"Captain Axel, I am willing to obey your orders."
It was a declaration of submission.
For Barlow, this was already a desperate concession. He believed Axel was using him as an example to intimidate the rest of the base. If he lowered his head now and pledged obedience, Axel would achieve his goal and avoid pushing the matter to the point of actual imprisonment.
Unfortunately, he had misunderstood Axel from the start.
Axel looked at the Marine officer beside him.
"What are you waiting for? If you don't arrest him, I'll arrest you as an accomplice in assaulting a superior officer."
The officer stiffened.
For a second, he was completely unable to process how things had developed this far.
But the threat snapped him awake.
He stepped forward at once.
"Lieutenant Commander Barlow," he said stiffly, "I am only following orders. Please cooperate."
Then he reached out to restrain him.
Barlow stared at Axel in disbelief.
This was not right.
In his mind, his judgment should have been correct. If Axel treated him like this even after he had chosen to submit, the other Marines would inevitably feel a sense of shared danger. Someone who had acted so decisively earlier should not have failed to understand that.
But whatever Axel was thinking, Barlow could not allow himself to be arrested like this.
His wrist twisted.
The Marine officer restraining him was strong, but compared to Barlow, he was still a step weaker. With a burst of force, Barlow broke free from his grip.
Before he could retreat, Axel had already vanished from the central seat.
In the next instant, he appeared in front of Barlow.
Bang!
A kick landed cleanly.
Barlow's body slammed into the ground.
The entire exchange happened in the blink of an eye.
From Barlow's resistance to Axel appearing in front of him, only a fraction of a moment had passed. Many officers had not even reacted before Barlow hit the floor with a heavy thud.
Only then did they realize what had happened.
"That was… Soru?"
One Marine spoke in disbelief.
"That's right," another said, his throat dry. "Soru. One of the famous Six Powers."
The officers stationed here were all at least commissioned Marines, lieutenants and above. Naturally, they had heard of the Six Powers.
But hearing of them and seeing them used were two entirely different things.
The Six Powers were not techniques ordinary people could master. Each one demanded physical ability far beyond the standard of normal soldiers. In the minds of most branch officers, they were almost synonymous with elite strength.
Soru, in particular, placed terrifying demands on the body.
The user had to kick off the ground more than ten times in an instant, using the explosive recoil to move at extreme speed. An ordinary body would not even be able to withstand the strain, let alone perform the technique properly.
In some branches, there might occasionally be one or two Marines capable of using one of the Six Powers. But those people were usually transferred to Marine Headquarters before long.
In this base, the number of people capable of using the Six Powers was effectively zero.
That was why Axel's use of Soru shocked them so deeply.
And more importantly—
He was still a child.
His current strength had already surpassed their level by a terrifying margin. How frightening would he become once he grew up?
Axel looked around the room and showed no surprise at their reaction.
There were two Marine bases in this region: Enies Lobby and San Faldo.
Both were branches, so their overall combat strength could not compare to Marine Headquarters. On top of that, Enies Lobby was far more important than San Faldo, so the strength assigned to the two places naturally differed.
To put it bluntly, many of the Marines here were leftovers.
Their reaction to the Six Powers was perfectly normal.
That was also why Axel had ignored Barlow's declaration of submission.
He had not come here to recruit followers.
He had never intended to play some slow, polite game of internal politics with them.
Sometimes, violence was simply the cleanest solution.
He was stronger than them.
He was the highest-ranking officer appointed by Headquarters.
So why should he worry about offending them?
A troublemaker like Barlow was better locked up.
As Barlow was dragged away, the atmosphere in the meeting room changed noticeably.
The remaining Marines became far more respectful.
The Navy valued seniority. That was why so many of them had been dissatisfied with Axel, a child, suddenly becoming Captain.
But in this world, strength mattered even more than seniority.
Strength was the foundation of survival.
Strength was what allowed them to fight pirates and come back alive.
After confirming that the newspaper reports were not exaggerated, and after seeing Axel's power with their own eyes, the officers' attitude shifted on its own. Add in his identity as Garp's grandson, and respect quickly replaced their earlier resentment.
Axel did not bother making things difficult for these opportunists.
He simply issued his first order after taking office.
"Everyone, write down your current duties and areas of expertise. Submit them to me within one hour."
He casually pointed his wooden sword toward Barlow, who had collapsed on the floor.
"Anyone who fails to submit will share his fate."
The words hit the room like a demon's whisper.
The officers immediately moved.
Chairs scraped. Papers were grabbed. Pens appeared at record speed.
Commander Yulia also prepared to leave and carry out the order, but Axel stopped him.
"Did you forget something?"
Yulia paused.
Then he seemed to remember.
He took a Den Den Mushi from his pocket and handed it to Axel.
"My apologies," Yulia said with a small smile. "I'm getting old. My memory isn't what it used to be."
Axel accepted the Den Den Mushi.
"If you're getting old, you should consider retirement. Save yourself the trouble."
"…"
Yulia chuckled.
"Captain certainly knows how to joke. This crippled body of mine can still contribute to justice."
He saluted, then turned and left.
Axel watched him go.
There was an old saying: a barking dog did not bite.
People who knew how to lower their heads were often far more dangerous than those who shouted their intentions for all to hear.
Axel's Observation Haki could not see into people's hearts as clearly as Issho's, but it could still sense intent.
Goodwill.
Malice.
Hostility.
Observation Haki was honed through sensing the aura of others. And among everyone in the room, Yulia's aura carried the deepest malice.
Axel had considered eliminating him directly.
In the end, he dismissed the idea.
No matter what schemes the man prepared, they would be useless before overwhelming strength.
Besides, Axel was curious.
He wanted to see what methods internal strife within the Navy would produce.
After the room emptied, Axel toyed with the Den Den Mushi he had just obtained.
This was the only Den Den Mushi in the entire branch responsible for external communication. If the base wanted to report anything to Headquarters, they had to use it.
That rule alone made the voting system almost laughable.
With people like Captain Morgan and Captain Nezumi, how could their subordinates report them?
Simple.
They could not.
The ones in power controlled the only channel to the outside world. As long as that remained true, they had no reason to fear being exposed by those below them.
Axel placed the base's Den Den Mushi on the table.
Then he took out another Den Den Mushi from his pocket.
The moment the base's Den Den Mushi saw the one in Axel's hand, its eyes transformed.
Hearts appeared in them.
It stared at Axel's Den Den Mushi with adoring devotion.
Axel blinked.
What an incredible creature.
Not only could Den Den Mushi mimic expressions during calls, but their emotional range was surprisingly rich too.
He leaned closer to the base's Den Den Mushi and spoke in a calm voice.
"From now on, you will only be responsible for my calls."
The Den Den Mushi froze.
"In return," Axel continued, "I will give you the right to pursue my Den Den Mushi."
The snail's face lit up with joy.
Then Axel added, "But if you disobey, I don't mind having snail stew."
The Den Den Mushi's expression changed instantly.
First delight.
Then terror.
Then obedience.
It nodded furiously.
.....
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